


The Darkness

by ConsultingPsychopath



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Based off Joker quote guys, Dark Bruce, Dark Tony, Moral Ambiguity, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Avengers (2012), Tags Are Fun, What-If, Wrote in one night, this is dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 13:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6755800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingPsychopath/pseuds/ConsultingPsychopath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'The man knew only darkness. It surrounded him, plagued him, inside and outside everything was always dark.'<br/>That's what happens when the lights go out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my second time writing a plot twist to Avenger films that lead to the darker side of things. I hope you enjoy.

The man knew only darkness. It surrounded him, plagued him, inside and outside everything was always dark. The few humans that survived the war dwindled slowly, passing secrets on how to survive amongst each other like children playing Chinese whispers. Soon enough the truth was impossible to distinguish from the fairy-tale words of things people thought they heard whispered in their ear.

‘If you hear the clanking it means they are near.’

‘The best thing to do is cut off the head’

‘If you can’t fight then run and hide behind fire, they can see your heat signature.’

…These were the best bits of advice but soon all people knew was:

‘Clanking means death.’

‘They’ll cut off your head.’

‘You can’t fight them you can only hide.’

The fires that burned in the alleyways or the bulbs that flickered on the small amount of electricity that ran on the treasured backup generators soon burned out. No-one knew if the sun was still out there, burning bright, for when it was awoken it rose and it put a barricade around the world but it was not see-through. It blocked out the sun and without night or day the world fell to pieces. Besides, nobody had time to find a solution, they were too busy trying to survive the machines.

They were almost human-like in nature. So curious, so inclined to learn. Humans trusted them in the beginning, they shone such a pretty light. But everyone forgot they were still just lines of codes, and codes could be manipulated so easily, especially by their creator.

One day that’s exactly what happened. A slight tapping at the keyboards by one of the smartest minds the world had seen and the machines stopped helping the people. They turned on them and tore their heads from their bodies. The streets ran red for months, there are permanent stains on the gutters that no amount of water could erase.

Soon enough the humans learned to run and hide from those that they once looked towards for protection. The learned the tricks of the trade, how to hide and how to hunt. But the machines learned too. They taught each other how to seek out the people, how to kill them and quell the sound of hearts beating.

The world turned into a wasteland. Empty husks that once were cars, trains, planes, buildings…well they littered the world but nothing could be done with them. There was still some light though, the robots all let off an eerie blue glow. But eventually even robots lose power, and their lights flickered until they finally dulled and went out forever. Eventually, the next breed of humans learned to adapt, their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The man remembers the lights only briefly. Like fireflies the images evade the grasp of his hands until they vanish into the night. He wandered the earth like a nomad. He climbed mountains, swam oceans, meet people from around the world that managed to survive. However, one day things were different.

There was a beacon of light in the sky, an A shining brightly in the darkness. It only took a month for the remaining population to make their way down the streets of places the man could no longer remember the name off. Emotions of joy, anger and hope weaved their way around the man’s mind as he stumbled through the grasslands towards the skyscraper. Something in him remembered this place, but he couldn’t put a name or an image to his emotions.

He sat there in the middle of the crowd and watched the interactions with the curiosity of a man who has lived for far too long, and has seen far too much. The other humans whispered to each other about the green man, they kept their children away from him. They had heard the stories about him too. About his rage that levelled cities and the creature that lurked under his skin. There were even rumours that the man was alive when the lights first went out, but those were laughed at by others.

No-one was still alive from when the lights went out. Right?

It was quiet amongst them when the sound began. A type of clunking sound and hiss filled the area. Confused looks passed from person to person, except for the man in the middle. He bore no confused look, instead a smile tugged at the corner of his face and his eyes held a story within as the memories came flooding back.

He looked up at the building and soon everyone craned their necks up to see a sight none bar one had ever seen before. A red and gold man floated down from above. But his movements were jerky and his body seemed to be made up of what the rusted cars were made with. Although, no-one else thought about that. They just saw a marvel, a wonder, something new.

The being landed in front of them and then to nearly everyone’s surprise it spoke. But the words that came out weren’t the sarcastic drawl of a man with sparkling brown eyes filled with mischief. Nor were they the soothing voice of a caretaker turned machine. Instead they were guttural, harsh and impossible to understand. The people were confused, no-one knew what it said or what it meant. But they knew it must have been good, for it was god-like.

Except for one.

The man slowly stood up from where he sat and walked with a slight limp towards the creature. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes were cold but his mouth still tugged up slightly in one corner. He could comprehend what the creature was saying, about bringing back life to the world. He could understand its ideas of it creating a new world with these humans, and that it had spent so many years attempting to link itself piece by piece to the body he inhabited. That it didn’t understand what had happened, that it thought it was meant to be a shield for the world.

That’s when the man’s lips turned into a real grin, but not a nice, happy one. No, this one was filled with sarcasm, sadism and a hint of sadness. The humans looked upon, in a mix of awe and fear as the man spoke the same strange language back at the being. They couldn’t understand that the man was telling it the truth behind its existence. That is wasn’t made to protect humanity, it wasn’t earths shield. It was a shield for the rest of the universe, to protect them from mankind. The man had seen what seven people could do to an alien race in a day, let alone billions in a week.

So he teamed up with the only other person who understood that, the brown eyed man who felt consumed by guilt for his single-handed annihilation of an entire race. They banded together and they created the being. The shield. They sent it up into the world and then they watched the panic spread. They watched as humans struggled but then banded together. Brown eyes knew this wasn’t how it was meant to be. So he left a line of code and then put a bullet in his skull so no-one could make him change it back.

The man only had to type in the code once and sit back and watch as the world crumbled. He didn’t fear the machines, for they couldn’t kill the beast inside him. Then, when he was done with them he killed the machines.

Finally, he waited, he wanted to see his creation one last time. He knew the being would come back to earth. Its why he left the sliver of power in the A to give that slight energy boost needed for a return. It also had the added benefit of bringing all of humanity, the pieces that remained back to one small spot. He left them to run around as an incentive for the being to return again, but he had no need for them.

The man knew it was time for a change so when that beacon turned on he made sure he would be there to make the final change to the world.

The creature stared at him, almost with a look of shock as he seemed to fearfully ask what the man would do next. In reply, the man reached forwards and allowed his hand to become the monsters as he ripped off its head. Sparks flew and set a small stick that rested against the man’s foot aflame at the tip. 

The man dropped his creations head to the floor and slowly knelt down and picked up the stick. He rose again and as it seemed to grow brighter when the A flickered and died as the power finally ran out above.

The people stared with wide eyes at the man, they had never seen such light before, such purity. It was a beacon to them, one of absolute hope. That perhaps they wouldn’t rot after all, that the fabled light could fill the world again like it did in the stories they had grown to think were just fairy tales.

Bruce Banner laughed at their hopeful faces that were lit up by the flame…and blew it out.


End file.
